Does Red Lipstick Really Attract Men? An Evaluation in a Bar

Nicolas Guéguen

Abstract

Previous research has demonstrated that the color red increases the attractiveness of women. It has also beenfound that makeup increases perceived women’ attractiveness for men and was associated with perceived greaterinterest for the opposite sex. We hypothesized that women wearing red lipstick would be more favorablyapproached by men. Female confederates wearing red, pink, brown and no lipstick were seated in bars onWednesday and Saturday nights in a popular spot on the West Atlantic coast of France. Each experimentalsession lasted one hour. The number of men’s solicitations and the lead time of the first solicitation were used asdependent variables. Results showed that the red lipstick condition was associated with a higher number of malesolicitations and a shorter lead time between the arrival of the confederates in the bar and the first courtshipsolicitation of a male.

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